This invention relates to an apparatus for recording on flexible magnetic disks contained in envelopes and commonly known as "floppy disks". This apparatus comprises a mandrel for rotating the disk within its envelope, and a carriage movable radially relative to the disk and on which are mounted a pair of magnetic heads each to record and/or read on a corresponding face of the disk, and a presser pad which presses the envelope against a reference surface. The envelope is flattened in proximity to the recording zone of the disk, and this positions the disk in a nominal working plane.
An apparatus of this type is known in which the presser pad is fixed directly to the movable armature of an electromagnet, and in which a tongue of the armature cooperates with one of the heads in order to withdraw it from the disk plane. The presser pad and the movable head have substantially equal travel strokes. This creates drawbacks because it is in contrast with the specific requirements of the presser which requires a long travel stroke, and of the head which requires a short travel stroke. In this respect, during the non-reading stages, the travel stroke of the presser pad when raised must be sufficiently long to ensure that the paid is well removed from the envelope, so as to prevent unnecessary disk wear. In contrast, the head must withdraw from the disk by only a very small distance, just sufficient to separate it from the magnetisable surface. Under such conditions, when the head is subsequently lowered, it does not land on the disk with too high a speed, and thus does not damage its magnetisable surface.